Defense key to Hawks’ 5-0 start

Chicago — It’s taken the Hawks awhile, four years to be exact, to embrace the defensive principles that Mike Woodson preached the moment he became head coach.

There’s no doubt that Woodson’s fifth team is living up to his defensive-minded standards.

The Hawks are off to a 5-0 start, largely because of a suffocating defensive presence. And, it’s easy to pack. The Hawks are already 3-0 on the road with another test Tuesday against Chicago.

“Our defense is the one constant, the one thing we’ve been able to count on every night so far,” Woodson said after Sunday’s comeback win in Oklahoma City. “It’s not always the prettiest thing to the casual eye, but it’s what wins in our league.”

For all the times he’s mentioned “defense and rebounding” over the past four years you’d have thought his teams would have embraced the philosophy before now.

But Woodson knows that playing with that ideal in mind and being able to execute it are two very different things.

The proof for these Hawks is in the numbers.

They are giving up just 85.8 points per game and allowing opponents to shoot just 40 percent from the floor, second in the NBA in both categories behind the Los Angles Lakers (84.4 and 39 percent). It’s no coincidence that the Hawks and Lakers are the NBA’s only remaining unbeaten teams.

“It’s cliché but true,” Hawks captain Joe Johnson said. “Defense wins championships. And in our case, defense can help get you to that next level.”

The Hawks have allowed just one team to score more than 90 points. They thumped Toronto 110-92 at home last Friday, with many of the Raptors’ points coming when the game was in hand.

“[Woodson] has been relentless about the defense,” Hawks forward Marvin Williams said. “He believes in it and has pushed us to believe in it the same way every step of the way. Really, every coach I’ve ever had has that same attitude about defense. But ultimately, it’s up to us to go out there and bring it to life. And that’s what we’ve tried to do this year.”

Even without their best defensive player, Josh Smith, Sunday, the Hawks held the Thunder to just 85 points in the win.

“It’s a matter of knowing where you’re supposed to be, staying into the game mentally and doing your job,” said Al Horford, who was particularly active on the defensive end and recorded a season-high five blocks against the Thunder. “I just wanted to come out and be aggressive. Some of us had to make up for Josh being out.”

It’s also been about learning from the best.

Woodson points to the past NBA champions that have won titles with defense, namely Detroit, where he won a title before taking the Hawks’ top job, and last year’s champ Boston.

“Those are two teams that you can look at and say from the start, they played with a certain discipline on the defensive end that carried them all season,” Woodson said. “That’s all you can ask for, from a coaching standpoint, for guys to commit to playing a certain way and then following through with it every night out, whether shots are falling on the other end or not.”

That’s the formula the Hawks used against the Thunder when they shot just 37 percent from the floor. And it’s the same one they’ll no doubt need to rely on throughout the season.

“It’s all going to be up to us to get it done every night,” Horford said. “We’ve got the blueprints, now we just have to keep building on this thing from one game to the next.”